Speaking From The Pulpit

Pulpit Presenters: 12 Speaking Lessons from the Clergy
by Ed Tate (see biography below)

“Daddy are you going to church to hear the word of God or to take speaker notes from the preacher?” That question was asked of me many years ago by my young son while on our way to church. The one word answer I gave to my son was “Yes.” I was there to hear the word of God AND observe the speaking secrets of my preacher.

It has been said that if you want to quickly upset a room full of people, talk about politics or religion. Relax. There will be no ideological debates in this lesson.

If you want to be the best, you have to learn from the best. And some of the best orators speak from behind a pulpit rather than a podium. They speak to congregations rather than an audience. And their followers number in the millions worldwide.

In the United States, Billy Graham, T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, and Joel Osteen are among the most popular pulpit speakers. What is it that he or she does from the pulpit that captivates the congregation and drives their sermon home?

I’ve identified 12 lessons:

Lesson #1: They use tools to help the audience understand the message. The tools in their toolbox are analogies, metaphors, stories, and parables. They seldom use facts, data, statistics, or PowerPoint presentations to get the message across. For example, Joel Osteen is pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. According to Forbes Magazine, it has largest and fastest-growing congregation in America. Joel uses two tools to make his point to his very large congregation: the story and metaphor. This story is called “Be a Thermostat.” You can find a copy of it on his website, joelosteen.com.

Not long ago I called to order a pizza. I had called this restaurant dozens of times before. When you call, the first thing they always ask for is your telephone number. Since I was so familiar with the routine, when a young lady answered the phone and, I answered very friendly and politely said, “Hello. My phone number is (713)…” and I gave her the rest of my number.

When I did that, you would have thought I had just totally insulted her. She practically screamed in my ear in the rudest voice you can imagine, “Sir! I am not ready for your phone number. And when I get ready, I will ask you for your phone number!” I wanted to say, “Lady, I will give you my phone number whenever I feel like giving you my phone number! But down in my spirit, I didn’t want to hear it, I could hear that still, small voice coming up inside saying, “Joel, be a thermostat, not a thermometer. You may have walked into a room that’s 200 degrees, but you have the controls. You can bring it down.

But I realized she didn’t have anything against me. She was just having a bad day. Something was irritating her. So I decided I was going to do everything I could to cheer her up. I started thinking of everything I could possibly compliment her on. And God knows I had to use my imagination! I said, “Ma’am, I just want to thank you for answering that phone so quickly and taking such good care of me. You guys make the best pizzas in the world. Your delivery is always on time. You run such a great organization.” On and on I went telling her all these compliments. Do you know by the time I got finished, she was throwing in hot wings and Dr. Pepper and coupons for more pizza? I had won her over. What happened? I became a thermostat instead of a thermometer.

A thermostat changes the environment by bringing the temperature up or down. Through God’s self-control and wisdom, you can do the same in situations and in the lives of others around you.

Joel Osteen used a story and a metaphor to teach us the lesson that we have a choice in controlling our temperature and our temper.

Lesson #2: Pulpit presenters use universal themes. That is, a message or lesson that practically everyone can relate to and understand. Universal themes transcend generations, gender, creed, race, or religion. These themes include but are not limited to massages of hope, relationships, finances, friends, family, faith, health, forgiveness, culture, and truth—just to name a few. For example, on my website, edtate.com, there is a story entitled “Three Questions.” It is a story about telling the truth. Several years ago, I told this story to a 100% Jewish audience. Two days and several continents later, I told this same story to a 100% Muslim audience. Their reactions were identical. Both audiences related to the universal messages: (1) it was a story about being a parent, and (2) that there is no relationship without trust.

Lesson #3: They take a concept and convert it into the concrete. In other words, they make their messages visual. Teacher and author Joyce Meyer does an exceptional job of this in her message entitled “It’s Time to Unpack your Baggage.” On the stage there is a large pile suitcases. Five feet tall. Ten feet wide. Each suitcase has a label as big as the suitcase: guilt, anger, fear, unforgiveness, and rejection. She grabs a few of the suitcases and walks back and forth on the stage to illustrate the point: we carry too much baggage a daily basis and how it weights us down. Her point is we need unpack our burden baggage on purpose and let it go. Joyce made the concepts—forgiveness and letting go—visual and concrete.

Lesson #4: Use humor. Joel Osteen, begins each sermon with a clean joke. He uses self-deprecating humor and occasionally will make fun of his brother. Pulpit presenters know how to deliver a punch line. This helps to break down walls and connects with the audience.

The next 8 tips are from Kirk Waller a minister from San Francisco, California.

Pulpit presenters have Passion – they care about what they say and whom they are saying it to. They start talking to me first. This lets me know that they care.

Simplicity – They simplify the message without dumbing it down. Again, tools such as stories, analogies, metaphors, and humor help people to connect and get the message.

Short – Typically their message is short: 30 minutes or less. And the stories and parables they use within their message is also short (typically under 2 minutes).

Connection – You feel as if they are speaking just to you. Usually they are. Again, one way they achieve this is by using universal themes.

Confidence – They never seem to be nervous. Confidence emanates from them. Joel Osteen spends all day on Wednesday and Thursday preparing this Sunday message.

Pace – They start off slow. I have taught many students “break preoccupation.” Begin with a bang. Many ministers start slow and end with a crescendo. According to Kirk Waller, “You begin low, continue slow, rise up higher, catch on fire, and sit down in the storm.”

Intensity – they vary their intensity from high to low, hard to soft. Toastmasters, call it vocal variety.

Decision – Pulpit presenters have a specific call to action for every message. They want you to take action with the message you have received.

Bonus Lesson: Stick the landing. They bring the message home, make the sale. Tie it all together and sit down in the storm. You leave them wanting more. Or as Craig Valentine says “Leave them on the edge of their seats.”

Ed Tate

About Ed Tate

Established in 1998, Ed Tate & Associates, LLC, provides speaking, sales and leadership training and motivation to individuals and businesses, including executives, Fortune 500 companies, sales teams and entrepreneurs, throughout the United States and globally.

Led by Ed Tate, an internationally known and respected speaker, trainer, author, business executive and motivator, Ed Tate & Associates is dedicated to raising the bar on the goals, results and overall success of all of its clients and audience members.


I hope you find this helpful in your public speaking career

Fran

First Impressions

HOW TO MAKE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION

by J.A. Gamache Third place Champion at the 2001 Toastmasters
International World Championship of Public Speaking

Your walk, posture and facial expressions convey non-verbal
messages about your state of mind. Decide to send the right
messages so you can make a good first impression whenever you
speak in public.

As you walk to the podium, the audience receives many
non-verbal cues before you've even said a word. Their first
impression of you is based on that information.

First impressions are important because the audience won't
find your message credible unless they feel that you're in
control. If you don't project self-confidence, they will find
it hard to trust you. Unwittingly, you might be raising
doubts in their minds.

Is it a disaster to fail at making a good first impression?
No. You'll always be able to catch up. However, you'll have
to work harder to reassure the audience that in spite of
appearances, you are a trustworthy source of information.

Here are some tips on how to make an entrance that conveys
the impression that you're in control.

1- WALK
Look at self-confident people--they have a strong, rapid
stride. Decide to send the same message. When your name is
announced, walk as though you're saying, "I am confident,"
even though you feel like running away!

2- POSTURE
Stand straight and adopt a solid stance. Open your torso to
ease your breathing. This posture sends the message that
you're calm even though you're shaking with fear!

3- FACIAL EXPRESSION
Put a smile on your face! When you walk to the podium, hold
your head high. Before you speak, take a deep breath. It'll
calm you down. Don't speak right away! Take time to look at
the audience. This silent pause sends the message, "I am
happy to be here!" even though you may be wondering what on
earth you've gotten yourself into.

Practice your entrance at home. Pay attention to the way you
walk, your posture, and your facial expressions, and you'll
make a good first impression every time.

Happy speech!

©MMIX J.A. Gamache www.jagamache.com. All rights reserved.



--------------------------------

PERMISSION IS GRANTED TO REPRODUCE THIS ARTICLE in whole or
in part if a copy of the reproduced text is sent to J.A.
Gamache at info@jagamache.com after publication and also
provided that this byline, including the following paragraph,
appears along with the reproduced text:

This article was reproduced from "Speaking in Public with
J.A.", a FREE electronic magazine authored by J.A. Gamache,
International Inspirational Speaker. To subscribe to his FREE
e-zine or to find out more about his presentations, visit:
http://www.jagamache.com/.

I hope you enjoyed this tip

Fran Watson
P.S.  Have a great day and check out this site

Speak and Deliver....

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Rich Hopkins is a fellow Toastmaster....


In case you aren't familiar with Toastmasters, you should check it out www.toastmasters.org


Build your vocabulary to improve your public speaking.


Form the Book-Note Habit:  To possess a word involves three things: To know its special and broader meanings, to know its relation to other words, and to be able to use it. When you see or hear a familiar word used in an unfamiliar sense, jot it down, look it up, and master it.


Use a new word accurately five times and it is yours. Professor Albert E. Hancock says: "An author's vocabulary is of two kinds, latent and dynamic: latent—those words he understands; dynamic—those he can readily use. Every intelligent man knows all the words he needs, but he may not have them all ready for active service. "


Form the Reference-Book Habit: Do not be content with your general knowledge of a word—press your study until you have mastered its individual shades of meaning and usage. Mere fluency is sure to become despicable, but accuracy never. The dictionary contains the crystallized usage of intellectual giants. No one who would write effectively dare despise its definitions and discriminations. Think, for example, of the different meanings of mantle, or model, or quantity. Any late edition of an unabridged dictionary is good, and is worth making sacrifices to own.

Word derivations are rich in suggestiveness. Our English owes so much to foreign tongues and has changed so much with the centuries that whole addresses may grow out of a single root-idea hidden away in an ancient word-origin. Translation, also, is excellent exercise in word-mastery and consorts well with the study of derivations.

Search Faithfully for the Right Word:  Books of reference are tripled in value when their owner has a passion for getting the kernels out of their shells. Ten minutes a day will do wonders for the nut-cracker. "I am growing so peevish about my writing," says Flaubert. "I am like a man whose ear is true, but who plays falsely on the violin: his fingers refuse to reproduce precisely those sounds of which he has the inward sense. Then the tears come rolling down from the poor scraper's eyes and the bow falls from his hand."

The same brilliant Frenchman sent this sound advice to his pupil, Guy de Maupassant: "Whatever may be the thing which one wishes to say, there is but one word for expressing it, only one verb to animate it, only one adjective to qualify it. It is essential to search for this word, for this verb, for this adjective, until they are discovered, and to be satisfied with nothing else."


To improving your vocabulary and your speaking ability.


Fran
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Message from Marcia:


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Fran

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Humour in Public Speaking

Public Speaking - 7 Types of Humor You Can Use

In public speaking, the ability to use humor is an important skill to possess whatever your natural ability is. Most people like to smile, to laugh, or to enjoy a listening experience. Humor adds sparkle and interest to a speech. Humor when used should be good willed and not given in a manner to show how witty you are.

It is probably impossible to catalog humor completely. Here I have listed the 7 kinds of humor commonly used in public speaking.

Turn of Phrase

In this type of humor, you get the laugh by starting to make a serious point in one direction and suddenly an unexpected meaning is revealed. Mark Twain used this technique when he said that "youth is such a wonderful thing, it is shame to waste it on children."

The Pun

A word is used to evoke a serious meaning and then used in a completely different meaning altogether. The second meaning gives a whole new viewpoint to the speaker's remarks. To be funny the meaning should not be stretched too far or it will evoke groans rather than smiles. For example, the organiser of an event may ask a member of the audience if the guest speaker was an able speaker. The member of the audience may reply "Yes, the guest speaker was able. He was able to stand up all the way through his speech."

Exaggeration

This is where a small thing is made into a larger important issue. This is similar to the how a cartoonist will exaggerate the features of a politician for effect.

Understatement

This is the opposite of exaggeration, and words are used to underplay the importance of an event or issue.

Irony

Here, the face value meaning of the words is different to the intended meaning. An example is the phrase "as pleasant and relaxed as a coiled rattlesnake" used by Kurt Vonnegut in one of his books.

Sarcasm

Sarcasm is a cutting form of wit and should be used with care. To be funny the audience should not have much sympathy for the intended target. If they do it will not work in your favor.

Satire

Satire is an attack upon something worded in a way as to be pleasant but clear in its meaning. Will Rogers at a bankers convention asked "I have often wondered where the Depositor's hold their convention."

To be funny, the humor should be said in a spirit of fun. However, for best effect, humor should be unannounced and told with a straight face (you don't want to laugh before your audience does). It requires more practice and preparation than other parts of your speech. The humor will die if you fumble over words or stumble during the punch line. In public speaking, as it is with conversation, the telling of humor should be effortless and natural.

To be effective in public speaking the humor should be relevant to the points being made. It is woven into the fabric of the speech. With practice and preparation it is possible to employ the 7 types of humor listed, regardless of how dry and shy you maybe.

Author: Edward Hope ... Add interest to your your public speaking and conversation with "The Art of Great Conversation." To claim your free preview visit http://www.selfconfidentspeaking.com/


Keep them laughing

Fran Watson

http://www.franwatson.ca/PublicSpeaking/index2.html

Leadership Tips

Leadership Exposed: Things You Thought You Knew About Leadership


Much has been written about leadership: rules, pointers, styles, and biographies of inspiring leaders throughout world history. But there are certain leadership ideas that we ourselves fail to recognize and realize in the course of reading books. Here is a short list of things you thought you knew about leadership.

1. Leaders come in different flavors.

There are different types of leaders and you will probably encounter more than one type in your lifetime. Formal leaders are those we elect into positions or offices such as the senators, congressmen, and presidents of the local clubs. Informal leaders or those we look up to by virtue of their wisdom and experience such as in the case of the elders of a tribe, or our grandparents; or by virtue of their expertise and contribution on a given field such as Albert Einstein in the field of Theoretical Physics and Leonardo da Vinci in the field of the Arts. Both formal and informal leaders practice a combination of leadership styles.

· Lewin’s three basic leadership styles – authoritative, participative, and delegative

· Likert’s four leadership styles – exploitive authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative, and participative

· Goleman’s six emotional leadership styles - visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and commanding.

2. Leadership is a process of becoming.

Although certain people seem to be born with innate leadership qualities, without the right environment and exposure, they may fail to develop their full potential. So like learning how to ride a bicycle, you can also learn how to become a leader and hone your leadership abilities. Knowledge on leadership theories and skills may be formally gained by enrolling in leadership seminars, workshops, and conferences. Daily interactions with people provide the opportunity to observe and practice leadership theories. Together, formal and informal learning will help you gain leadership attitudes, gain leadership insights, and thus furthering the cycle of learning. You do not become a leader in one day and just stop. Life-long learning is important in becoming a good leader for each day brings new experiences that put your knowledge, skills, and attitude to a test.

3. Leadership starts with you.

The best way to develop leadership qualities is to apply it to your own life. As an adage goes “action speaks louder than words.” Leaders are always in the limelight. Keep in mind that your credibility as a leader depends much on your actions: your interaction with your family, friends, and co-workers; your way of managing your personal and organizational responsibilities; and even the way you talk with the newspaper vendor across the street. Repeated actions become habits. Habits in turn form a person’s character. Steven Covey’s book entitled 7 Habits of Highly Effective People provides good insights on how you can achieve personal leadership.

4. Leadership is shared.

Leadership is not the sole responsibility of one person, but rather a shared responsibility among members of an emerging team. A leader belongs to a group. Each member has responsibilities to fulfill. Formal leadership positions are merely added responsibilities aside from their responsibilities as members of the team. Effective leadership requires members to do their share of work. Starting as a mere group of individuals, members and leaders work towards the formation of an effective team. In this light, social interaction plays a major role in leadership. To learn how to work together requires a great deal of trust between and among leaders and members of an emerging team. Trust is built upon actions and not merely on words. When mutual respect exists, trust is fostered and confidence is built.

5. Leadership styles depend on the situation.

How come dictatorship works for Singapore but not in the United States of America? Aside from culture, beliefs, value system, and form of government, the current situation of a nation also affects the leadership styles used by its formal leaders. There is no rule that only one style can be used. Most of the time, leaders employ a combination of leadership styles depending on the situation. In emergency situations such as periods of war and calamity, decision-making is a matter of life and death. Thus, a nation’s leader cannot afford to consult with all departments to arrive at crucial decisions. The case is of course different in times of peace and order---different sectors and other branches of government can freely interact and participate in governance. Another case in point is in leading organizations. When the staffs are highly motivated and competent, a combination of high delegative and moderate participative styles of leadership is most appropriate. But if the staffs have low competence and low commitment, a combination of high coaching, high supporting, and high directing behavior from organizational leaders is required.

Now that you are reminded of these things, keep in mind that there are always ideas that we think we already know; concepts we take for granted, but are actually the most useful insights on leadership.

Lead on.....

Fran
http://www.franwatson.ca/publicspeaker.html

Speaker Videos

Check these out.  These are the winning videos from a recent contest.

THE WINNER OF THE BEST SPEAKER


VIDEO CONTEST IS:

JOHN YOUNG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfbDgKHFfs0

What the judges appreciated about John's video: great energy, solid content, unique, relevant, high production quality, positions as an expert.
Congratulations John!

RUNNERS UP ARE:
Simon Bailey (commands the stage brilliantly)

http://www.youtube.com/brilliance777#p/a/u/0/veREsqHhUHg


Bill Stainton (Fun, unique, great energy)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdUdKjzX2NY


Steve Shapiro (pulls us in)

http://www.vimeo.com/15265556


Michelle Ray (energy, audience engagement)

http://www.michelleray.com/demo.html


Kris Belcher (great funny stories, she's real)

http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=n7UqrBYt4QY


Congratulations Runner's Up!

And special thanks goes out to the panel: Joe Calloway and Robin Creasman, for their wisdom and expertise!

And, if you wonder why your video wasn't selected, this post called "Video: You Might Lose Me If"
might help. http://ow.ly/36WMI

See you soon Wealthy Speakers!

Comments? Post to my blog

http://www.speakerlauncher.com/blog/
 
Hope you enjoy these
 
Fran
http://www.franwatson.ca/publicspeaker.html